"Stop the Oppression of Intelligent and Self-Aware Beings" - Who Could be Against That?!

I am not making this up.

• "Spanish parliament to extend rights to apes"
  Reuters (June 25, 2008)
  • "MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's parliament voiced its support on Wednesday for the rights of great apes to life and freedom in what will apparently be the first time any national legislature has called for such rights for non-humans.
  • "Parliament's environmental committee approved resolutions urging Spain to comply with the Great Apes Project, devised by scientists and philosophers who say our closest genetic relatives deserve rights hitherto limited to humans.
  • " 'This is a historic day in the struggle for animal rights and in defense of our evolutionary comrades, which will doubtless go down in the history of humanity,' said Pedro Pozas, Spanish director of the Great Apes Project...."
  • "...Keeping apes for circuses, television commercials or filming will also be forbidden and breaking the new laws will become an offence under Spain's penal code....."
• "Spanish MPs push for apes' rights"
  BBC News (June 8, 2006)
  • "Spanish Socialist MPs hope to persuade parliament to back a landmark project seeking human-like rights for apes such as chimpanzees and orang-utans.
  • "Campaigners say the intelligence and self-awareness shown by apes mean they deserve rights to life, freedom and protection from torture.
  • "Parliament's support would not be law, but would mean a commitment to the work of the NGO, the Great Ape Project.
• press release [numbered by this blogger, for clarity]
  Great Ape Project (March 22, 2007)
  1. "Beginning a movement that may propel Spain as a leader in animal welfare, the Balearic Parliament has recently announced its approval of a resolution to grant legal rights to great apes. The Balearic Islands are located in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula, and form one of the Autonomous Communities of Spain The Islands are one of the most popular holiday destinations in all of Europe
     Deputy Margalida Rosselló presented the Balearic Parliament with the resolution early last summer, requesting a declaration of support for the mission of the Great Ape Project, International - to legally grant great apes freedom from torture, mistreatment and unnecessary death. This resolution has also been presented to the Spanish Government and is expected to be considered this summer after being deferred due to unrelated political issues last year. According the Pedro Pozas, Executive Director of Great Ape Project, Spain, 'the decision of the Balearic Government to approve this Proposal, makes it a world-wide leader in the protection of the great apes and their habitat, as well as in the support of their rights.'
  2. "Opponents cite concern over granting 'human' rights to animals. However, supporters are quick to point out that the resolution approved by the Balearic Parliament and proposed to the Spanish Government does not seek to grant great apes the same rights available only to humans. The proposition simply recognizes basic legal protections supported by biological and scientific evidence that great apes, like human children, experience an emotional and intellectual conscience similar to that of human children. For years, the scientific community has widely recognized that great apes experience intense emotions such as fear, anxiety, happiness; can independently solve puzzles and create and use tools; recognize the past and plan for their future; and can learn to communicate in and unilaterally teach a different language to their children.
  3. "By declaring its support of fundamental rights for great apes, the Balearic Parliament has taken scientific evidence to the next level by establishing a legal recognition that these creatures are conscious, self-aware beings that should not be tortured, abused and neglected. The efforts by the Balearic Parliament to stop the oppression of intelligent and self-aware beings who cannot speak for themselves is an important step in the political arena of animal rights...."
     [emphasis mine]

Wow.

Let me say first that I think baby chimps are cute, and that I don't torture animals. In fact, I'm rather glad that American states have 'animal cruelty' laws on the books, and that there are controls on animal experimentation.

I suppose I'm a hypocrite, though, by some standards: I do swat mosquitoes, and like fried chicken.

The Great Ape Project, by the way, uses the acronym GAP: cute, yes?

That Great Ape Project press release had me going, through paragraphs 1 and 2. (I numbered them, to make it a bit easier to refer back to those monumental masses of words.)

Paragraph 3, though, is where GAP loses me. Sure, apes act a lot like human beings. So do squirrels and dogs, for that matter. When I'm in a certain mood, a discussion of who gets which tree among squirrels, and a C-SPAN broadcast of legislative discussion don't seem all that different. Although I'll grant that the politicos are much more sedentary.

But, "conscious, self-aware beings"? I've read articles about the research. I know about Washoe, and Koko, and the other furry friends. I think it's a fascinating study. I also think that some of the researchers desperately want to believe what GAP does.

I'll finish with this thought: The next few decades aren't going to be boring.